Was Freeh Fired?--Or Is It Only a
Glitch in the FBI's Files?

by J. Orlin Grabbe

While the stock market continues to climb a wall
of "What? Me worry?" (helped along by a little Federal
Reserve buying of stock index futures whenever it goes
down) and the rapid deployment forces of the 101
Airborne out of Ft. Campbell arrive in the staging area of
Saudia Arabia and Bill Clinton seeks advice on his tenuous
political position from leading Democrats, the FBI
continues in its campaign to systematically mislead the
American public concerning the downing of TWA Flight
800.

Is it because the FBI was notified in advance by a
Syrian-backed terrorist group there would be such an
attack? The "official" behind the scenes explanation is:
"We don't want copycat crimes." Apparently they are
afraid the general public will realize you can take down an
aircraft with a Stinger missile. But isn't anyone with the
intelligence to acquire a Stinger also smart enough to
figure that out for themselves?

If TWA 800 was destroyed by a bomb out of
Athens, then why are U.S. rapid deployment forces staging
in Saudia Arabia? Is Greece the focus of their attention?
Or is it Syria?

Well, maybe the FBI can't do much about
terrorism--but the political appointees at the agency sure
know how to show up on Capitol Hill to ask for more
money and greater powers to wiretap American citizens.
They were even muttering something about pipe bomb
instructions on the Internet. (A friend of mine just gave a
course to 20 ATF agents on how to make pipe bombs--
you've got to know how they are made in order to defuse
them. And the government's worrying about the Internet?)
But this all kind of makes sense when you realize the FBI
finds it much safer to deal with, say, the Branch Davidians
at Waco, or with toy soldiers who march on weekends,
than with the skilled urban guerillas trained at Syria's
College.

But perhaps things are looking up. Did Louis
Freeh fail to get his bi-monthly pay- and expense-
reimbursement checks this last payday? Apparently so.
The computer says--and we know FBI files cannot be
wrong--that he has been terminated. Is the White House
upset with Freeh? The official explanation in the
computer, which we know cannot be accessed by just
anyone on account of its high quality security, is that
Freeh was removed from his job because the FBI is an
"unchartered" organization.

If the FBI is unchartered does this mean FBI agents
are really just employees of the Department of Justice?
One can't be prosecuted for lying to the Department of
Justice, only for lying to the FBI. But, on the other hand,
the FBI apparently doesn't exist under Federal law: it isn't
chartered. Any lawyers out there paying attention?